1957 Dodge Pickup for a Dodge lover

Back in the ’50s, car designers experimented with melding all sorts of unusual shapes. For instance, sedans influenced the design of Chevy’s 1955 Cameo Carrier pickup. Ford followed suit with its Ranchero in 1957, creating a new vehicle segment that was neither fish nor fowl.

Dodge was caught flat-footed by these innovative vehicle types, as it had been soldiering along with just a plain ol’ pickup that was in need of a personality transplant to bolster dwindling sales. To play catch-up in mid 1957, Dodge’s Special Equipment Group (essentially an in-house customizing shop), took a bold step in creating the Sweptside, a truck embellished with sweeping station wagon fenders on the sides of the pickup box.

Easier said than done, however, as the chrome trim on the cab had to be aligned with the big fins. The bumper from the station wagon was also thrown into the mix, and that required cutting down the tailgate to fit between the long fenders. Even though only 1,260 or so units were built from 1957-1959 (with fewer than 200 surviving today), overall it had some distinct advantages over the aforementioned got-there-first competition. This hybridized, two-tone rig was certainly more stylish than the Cameo, and it was a real truck to boot, not some sort of sissy pickup. Yet it fit with Dodge’s Autodynamics marketing strategy that linked together both car and truck lines in an effort to promote brand loyalty.

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Not only that, it had a Polyspheric V-8. While not a Hemi, it was based on the hemispherical configuration and used the same block and crankshaft. But the heads, pushrods, and pistons were different, along with the exhaust manifolds.

Since the dual concave domes in the heads didn’t require as sophisticated a rocker setup as the single-dome Hemi, they were cheaper and lighter to produce. Chrysler referred to the Poly engines as single rocker shaft (SRS), while the Hemi engines were dual rocker shaft (DRS).

The 315ci V-8 in the Sweptside shown here was originally a Poly version, but the engine now sports Hemi heads. The truck’s owner, Chuck Foley, says there are unconfirmed rumors of the factory producing at least one Hemi-powered Sweptside, so there might be some sort of historical precedent for this changeover (aside from that the fact that it just sounds really cool). We’re getting ahead (no pun intended) of ourselves, though. By way of background, Chuck says that he is carrying on a family tradition in his affection for the Dodge brand.

“As with most young boys, their father’s preferences for the brand of cars and trucks is passed onto the sons,” he points out. When Chuck was about the age of 11, “My dad acquired a 1941 1-ton Dodge panel delivery, dual wheels and all.” This rig remained in the family for years and no doubt inspired his fondness for Dodges.

As the years rolled along, Chuck didn’t acquire a truck of his own until after he married Shirley. Initially he found a 1933 Plymouth pickup, which was fixed up and used as a second car. Then one fateful day, he spotted his first Sweptside.

“We were awestruck by a truck with fins and a push-button transmission selector,” he admits. The red-and-white two-tone color scheme was an identical match to a 1957 Dodge Coronet two-door hardtop with a D500 Hemi performance package, which he had bought three years earlier.

“We just had to have this finned pickup to make the pair. We purchased the Sweptside and that was the beginning of our finned car and truck fascination.” A match made in heaven, as they say.

At this point Chuck and Shirley had no idea how limited the production of the Sweptside was, or how special they would become. “We used the truck as a normal utility vehicle to tow our camping trailer, and serve as a second car,” he admits, to his chagrin.

Still in the dark about what the significance of the Sweptside, in 1968 they replaced their finned wonders with a pair of more practical vehicles to accommodate their growing family. By 1985, though, after raising their kids, the couple started a long journey to get a 1957 Dodged finned car and truck back in their care.

They started out with the total restoration of a convertible, spending the greater part of 20 years collecting parts and donor cars, and completing the body paint and assembly. During this same period, with the help of their son, Rick, they acquired four Sweptsides, all in running condition but in need of restoration. They also found unique parts, such as roof-mounted radios and Hemi heads.

By 2007 the restoration of the convertible was complete, so they were ready and able to start on the Sweptside project. Health issues intervened, however, and work stalled. “Until one evening out of the blue I got an email from my brother, Dave, stating, ‘You need to look at this on eBay!’” Chuck did, and there happened to be a restored red-and-white Sweptside located just down the road from him.

No surprise, “The truck was in our driveway in less than 24 hours,” he says. The sellers, two brothers from Fresno, had already done the major mechanical work. According to Chuck, converting the Poly to a Hemi engine is relatively simple, since all of the top-end accessories are interchangeable, except for the exhaust manifolds. (Some Dodge heavy-duty truck models from 1956-1959, the D600 and D700 with the 315ci V-8, had optional Hemi heads, which used center-dump manifolds. These bolt right up to a Poly head exhaust head pipe, Chuck points out, and are an ideal solution.) In addition, the pistons have different valve relief offsets, requiring Hemi pistons.

So all that was needed on the truck was a basic restoration, such as a thermal acoustic insulation from Quiet Ride Solutions, along with rewiring, re-chroming of the trim and bumpers, and fresh, original-spec upholstery from SMS Auto Fabrics. The latter item was installed by Wall & Eades Auto Upholstery. Chuck also added a power brake booster between the framerails, similar to the factory setup. He had a roof-mount radio on his shelf, so he added that as well, even though he thinks it was not a factory option in 1957.

“We finally had our pair of finned red and white matching 1957 Dodges—a perfect fit for a pair of nonconformist individuals.” They nicknamed them “His” and “Hers” and went on to show them together at many events, carrying on the torch for this novel pickup design.